Chair construction with resiliently mounted seat and back



Jan. 26, 1954 c. EAMES 2,667,210 CHAIR CONSTRUCTION WITH RESILIENTLY MOUNTED SEAT AND BACK Filed March 1, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

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KM Rm ATTORNEY Jan. 26, 1954 2,667,210

C.- EAMES CHAIR CONSTRUCTION WITH RESILIENTLY MOUNTED SEAT AND BACK Filed March 1, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

5W5 BY 54% A QM ATTORNEY Jan. 26, 1954 c, EAMES 2,667,210

CHAIR CONSTRUCTION WITH RESILIENTLY MOUNTED SEAT AND BACK Filed March 1, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 6.

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N o 3 g C /VE T R man? fill-'1 4 ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 26, 1954 CHAIR CONSTRUCTION WITH RESILIENTLY MOUNTED SEAT AND BACK Charles Eames, West Los Angeles, Calif., assignor, by mcsne assignments, to Herman Miller Furnifture Company, Zeeland,

Michigan Mich., a corporation of Application March 1, 1947, Serial No. 731,818

7 Claims. (01.155 53) This invention relates to furniture constructions. More particularly it pertains to a construction whereby molded sheets of relatively thin, decorative materials may be resiliently connected to form a novel rocking type of chair. Plywood is an example of one sheet material which may advantageously be used in a chair embodying my present invention.

Heretofore plywood and other decorative sheetlike products have not been extensively used in the manufacture of the better grades of furniture for the reason that no one had satisfactorily solved the problem of how to employ such materials or how to combine the various body supporting portions into a piece of furniture which was attractive, comfortable and serviceable. In the few furniture constructions known to the art where plywood, for example, has been employed, such as in ordinary folding chairs, the plywood panels were joined together by relatively cumbersome and obvious clamping mechanisms an the results were not noted for the comfort which they afforded nor did such construction stand against wear for the plywood tended to break and splinter at the clamping points. I y Y The present invention not only overcomes these disadvantages but provides a chair-like structure in which the seat, the back and the shoulder supports are yieldable to degrees proportionate to movements of the respective parts of the torso of a seated person. Thus the seat pivots generally about an axis lengthwise of the seat to accommodate torso motions as the person shifts weight laterally in the chair. The back and arm rests, supported from the seat, take the motion of the seat and in addition are pivoted about an axis generally passing through the hips of the seated torso, to accommodate the greater forward and backward angular motions of the torso back. The shoulder rest, supported from the back, takes the combined movements of the seat and back, and is mounted for further yielding backward movement, as well as twisting movement to accommodate the freer movement of the shoulders of the torso. Thus my discovery for connecting body supporting panels in furniture may be employed to give lateral displacement between adjacent parts, or rotational displacement therebetween, or combinations of lateral arid rotational movements. And the nature ofmy connections is such that materials which heretofore were never successfully used in high quality furniture may be employed with satisfaction.

It is an object of my invention to provide apparatus and methods such as exemplified herein having to a notable extent the characteristics and capabilities set forth. Another object is the provision of a construction for joining furniture panels which overcomes certain disadvantages which inhere in the known constructions of the prior art. Another objective resides in the provision of a furniture assembly whereby molded. plywood panels and the like may be combined into a novel and attractive type of semi-rocking chair. Other objects will be in part pointed out as the description proceeds and will in part become apparent therefrom.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, arrangements of parts and methods of operations as will be exemplified in the structures and series of steps to be hereinafter indicated and the scope of the application of which will be set forth in the claims.

In this specification and the accompanying drawings, I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention and various modifications thereof; but it is to be understood that these are not intended to be exhaustive nor limiting of the invention, but on the contrary are given for purposes of illustration in order that others skilled in the art may fully understand the invention and the principles thereof and the manner of applying it in practical use so that they may modify and adapt it in various forms, each as may be best suited to the conditions of a particular use.

In the drawings: I

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a chair embodying my invention; I

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the chair shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a rear elevation of the chair;

Figure 4 is a view of the chair taken from below;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the chair;

Figure 6 illustrates a fragmentary detail on an enlarged scale of a tension mount employer in the chair;

Figure '7 is an edge view of the parts shown in Figure 6;

Figure 8 is an exploded perspective view of some of the parts shown in Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary detail on an enlarged scale of a torsion mount used in the chair shown in Figures 1-5; V

Figure 10 is an edge view of the parts shown in Figure 9; and

Figure 11 is an exploded perspective View of some of the parts shown in Figure 10,

In Figures 1-5 a chair is illustrated consisting of a seat panel 2s, a back panel 22, and a shoulder panel 25. The seat panel is supported by molded plywood legs 26, 28 and 30. Leg 3% has a section Sta extending forwardly beneath the seat panel and is sufficiently wide to form a support therefor. Legs 26 and 28 are part of a single piece passing underneath section 3911 and secured thereto by suitable screws not shown. Back panel 22 is supported from the seat panel and the shoulder panel 24 is supported from the back panel. The various panels may all advantageously be formed from suitable molded plywood, from other molded organic materials or from thin molded sheet metal. 'Such thin materials having a high quality finish have been known for some time. My present invention enables their use to form a really comfortable, durable chair. 1

Seat panel '26 (see Figures 2 and 4) is supported by the legs uponseat mounts 35. In the illustrative embodiment four ofthese mountsare used, and they preferably are.of;the type described and claimed in my .copending;applica tion filed'herewith. They comprise a rubber block 35a to which is bonded a metal .plate 361; which plate is secured by screws 350 to the plywood frame 36a. The block is permanently bonded to the underside of panel 20. The mounts 35 are relatively close together along a longitudinal centerline to enable the seat to yield laterally under the shifting weight of a person sitting in it.

Back panel 22 has forwardly extending sides 22a adapted to be supported between a pair of upwardly extending sides 31 formed integrally with seat panel 28. Eachlateral extremity 22a of back panel 22 is bonded to theinner face of a torsion mount 38; the outer faces of mounts 38 are bonded to the inwardly facing surfaces of portions 3?. Each of the torsion mounts 38includes a disc-like block of strong resilient yielding rubber, and the two-mounts are disposed in the chair so that thedisc-like blocks share an approximately common axis The panel 22 of the present form is supported-solely by mounts 38, and thus flexing the rubber-like discs permits pivotal movement of the entire panel to a limited extent about-the axis between torsion mounts 38. Some slight translatory displacement is also, of course possible. .The pivoting and translatory movements make the chair conform to the sitters posture and to make the chair more comfortable. As shown, the torsion rnount axis passes approximately through the'pivotpoint of the hips of the person seated in the chair. The resilient central-mounting of the seat renders the seat responsive to pressures upon it and capable of moving slightly under such pressures. The seat movements, of course, are imposed upon the hip pivot axis about which the back panel turns so that a compound action of theback panel results which is equal to the sum of the seat movements plus the movements of rotation about the hip axis. Accordingly panel 22 and seat 29 cooperate to afford a floating type of support through the lower back portions.

It will be observed that seat 2e may tilt a little in any direction upon its base, depending upon body pressures uponit. But as'it. tilts it'carries with it panels 22 and 24' so that if the axis of the torso of the seated person tends to tilt, so too does the major axis of the whole chair tilt. And whether tilted or not, the interactions among the three panels 26, 22 and 25 remain unchanged.

Shoulder panel 24 is carried by an integrally also twisting yieldably to accommodate formed flexible post it (see Figures 2 and 3). Post 49 is secured to the central rear portion of back panel 22 by means of a tension mount s2. This tension mount includes a rubber-like block having one face bonded to the lower end of post 48 and the other face bonded to the rear central portion of panel 22. Thus, panel 22 is resiliently supported and is movable with respect to panel 22 in part by means of the inherent flexibility of post at and in part because of the resilience of the rubber block in tension mount 42. By elongating post 453 and securing it well down on back 22, the flexibility of post d8 may be used not only to permit forward and backward yielding but twisted portions of the shoulders of the troso. The additional length of post is and the additional leverage afforded makes this shoulder panel easily accommodate the position of the seated person.

Hence to the compound motions possible in back panel 22 areadded the variousflexurejand torsional movementswhich are-made possible by post 4% and mount 452. Thus, 'whereasthe seat and back panel are mounted to adaptthernselves to the natural lower trunk and hip movements of the person seated in the chair, so also the shoulder panel is so disposed as to follow yieldably and to support backward andforward and twisting shoulder movements which may occur independently of movementsof thelower trunk within seat 263' and back 22. And all the while the whole panel assembly 28, 22, 2 5 is disposed so as to tilt slightly with respect to the floor to follow tilting movements of the seated person.

Seat panel 28 is sufficiently movable upcnsupport 3ilct by virtue of the resilience of seat mounts 36' as described; back panel 22 is relatively-movable for pivotal rotation withrespect to panel 29 about the hip axis which shifts with tilting of the seat panel; panel 25, in turn, which is carried by panel 22, is relatively movable with respect thereto about either a vertical or a horizontal axis or some combination thereof. Thus, the various panels are seen to be so concatenated one to another that they readily conform themselves to the physical characteristics and attitudesof the individual who sits in the chair. They follow sideward leaning positions of the torso, and therefore better accommodate the sideward components of backward. ahdtwisting motions of the torso. So also providing the arms on panel 22 cause the arms to follow tilting of the seat and pivoting of the back, thereby to provide more natural support for the tors Figures 6, '7. ands show the details .of tension mount H2 wherein a pair of thin preferably single layer veneers 5 5 are applied to the opposing faces of a rubber block Q8 and are permanently bonded thereto by temperature and pressure as is known in the art. The outer faces of the veneers thereafter are permanently'glued to panel 22 and post 30 so that the post is resiliently carried upon the central rear portionof the panel.

Figures 9, l0 and 11 show the details of one of the torsion mounts 33 wherein a pair of veneers 48 are applied by "a temperature and pressure bonding process tov the opposing faces of a flat disc-like block of rubber Ell. Thereafter, the veneered block 53 is permanently fixed between a panel portion 3'! and back panel 38 so that relative torsional movementabout the axis of the rubber disc is possible. When I use the .expressions torsion mount, torsion blocks, etc., I means to include a structure wherein the yieldabilityis provided as bya metal spring. Thus, a

mount might include a pair of bonding-plates, to be cemented to the panel surfaces, and an intermediate coil spring secured therebetween, one spring end being carried in one bonding plate and the other spring end being carried in the other bonding plate.

A method of bonding the veneer to the rubber blocks, and of gluing the block to the panels is described in detail in my aforementioned copending application.

It will be appreciated that a limited amount of torsional movement of shoulder panel 24,-arcuately laterally about back panel 22, is possible because of the inherent nature of rubber block 46. Most of the relative movement afforded by the block, however, will result from stretching under tension as panel 24 swings rearwardly. The torsional movements of back panel 22 within the confines of panel portions 31 are made possible by the locations of the rubber blocks 50. These locks determine substantially parallel planes and they are disposed in those planes approximately upon a common axis perpendicular to both planes and passing through the centers of the two discs. As pointed out, this axis passes approximately through the hip pivot points of the seated person. This construction gives maximum torsional flexing of the rubber with a minimum of compression and tension strains.

Where desired the seat and legs may be rigidly secured, omitting the mounts 36, without departing from the advantages afforded by the independent movements of the back and shoulder panels. Ihe whole construction lends itselfto mass production because it permits of dimension tolerances present in all mass production. The use of the seat mounts, the torsion mounts and the tension mounts eliminates all destructive localized stresses and strains on the thin panels and eliminates all destructive strains caused by expansion and contraction. These chairs embodying the present invention may be used in all climates and may be formed of metal, suitably treated to inhibit corrosion, and suitable for outdoor use.

Chairs embodying the present invention have the further advantage that the parts are in effect series mounted, so that the shifting of the weight of the buttocks of the torso, shifts all other parts of the chair in the direction of the shifted weight to place the parts in proper position to accommodate the back and shoulders of the torso which generally lean to the side of the shifted weight. Thus, such chairs provide motions of the panels which conform to the major twisting and pivoting motions of the torso.

In known types of chairs which may be characterized as parallel constructions, the upper parts do not follow the base parts but only move independently thereof, and therefore, are lacking in the scientific comfort afforded by chairs embodying the present invention.

From the foregoing it will be observed that apparatus and methods embodying my invention are well adapted to attain the ends and objects hereinbefore set forthv and to be economically manufactured and practiced, since the separate features are well suited to common production methods and are subject to a variety of modifications as may be desirable in adapting the invention to different applications.

Since many embodiments of the invention are possible and since many changes might be made in the embodiment set forth, protection is not to be limited to anything described or presented 6 in the above specification and drawings but only to the scope of the hereinafter attached claims I claim:

1. In a furniture construction of the character described, a unitary panel having two forwardly extending side portions and a vertically extending back portion, a supporting frame, two vertically disposed side supporting members disposed respectively adjacent said two side portions, means supporting said members on said frame, and rubber-like torsion blocks bonded between each'side portion and adjacent side supporting member to support said panel upon said side supporting members; the bonded surfaces of said blocks being relatively extensive in area and substantially parallel, and said blocks having substantially a common axis substantially perpendicular to said bonded surfaces, whereby said panel is pivotally mounted with respect to said side supporting members.

2. In a furniture construction of the character described, a unitary panel having two forwardly extending side portions and a vertically extending back portion, a supporting frame, two vertically disposed side supporting members disposed respectively adjacent said two side portions, means supporting said members on said frame, and rubber-like torsion blocks bonded between each side portion and adjacent side supporting member to support said panel upon said side supporting members; the bonded. surfaces of said blocks being relatively extensive in area and substantially parallel, and saidblocks having substantially a common axis substantially perpendicular to said bonded surfaces, whereby said panel is pivotally mounted with respect to said side supporting members; a second vertically disposed panel, and a rubber-like block bonded between and connecting said two panels to resiliently and yieldably support saidsecond panel from said first panel.

3. In a furniture construction of the character described, a unitary panel having two forwardly extending side portions and a vertically extending back portion, a supporting frame, two vertically disposed side supporting members disposed respectively adjacent said two side portions, means supporting said members on said frame, and rubber-like torsion blocks bonded between each side portion and adjacent side supporting member to support said panel upon said side supporting members; the bonded surfaces of said blocks being relatively extensive in area and substantially parallel, and said blocks having substantially a common axis substantially perpendicular to said bonded surfaces, whereby said panel is pivotally mounted with respect to said side supporting members; a second vertically disposed panel, a rubber-like block bonded between and connecting said two panels to resiliently and yieldably support said second panel from said first panel, said two side supporting members being part of a seat panel, and said means comprising rubberlike blocks bonded to said seat panel securing said seat panel to said supporting frame.

4. In a furniture construction of the character described, a relatively rigid leg construction adapted to stand uponthe floor, a seat panel mounted upon said leg construction by a rubberlike mounting means between said leg construction and said seat panel adapted to provide slight yielding tilting movement under the weight of a person in any direction with respect to said leg construction, a back panel mounted upon said seat panel, rubber-like mounting means between .aecmro ward. extensions of said seatpaneldefining an axis of yieldability extending transversely and substantially parallel at allztimes. to. t-heplane of said seat, and a shoulder panel mounted upon saidback panel by a rubber-likemounting:means between said shoulder panel and said back panel accommodating limited backward and sideward and twisting movements.

5. In a furniture-construction of. the-character described, a seat, panel, a back panel mounted upon said seat panel by rubberelike mounting means between forward extensions of saidback panel and upward extensions of saidseat panel defining an axis of yieldability extending transversely and substantially parallel at 31112111188 to the plane. of said seat panel,v a shoulder panel, and rubber-like mounting, means between said back panel and said shoulder panel, said. last named mounting means being bonded to said shoulder panel over a relatively extensive surface area thereof and accommodating limited backward and sideward andtwistingmovements.

6. Ina furniture construction of the character described, a horizontally extending seat panel, a seat support carrying a rubber-like mounting supporting said sea-t panel yieldably; for slight tilting movement under the weight of a person in any direction with respect to avertical axis, a back panel, arms extending upwardly from said seat panel, a pair of rubber-like mountings-connecting said arms anda 'forwardextension ofsaid back panel and yieldably supporting saidi back panel upon said seat panel. and defining a back support axis substantially parallel at all times to the plane of said seat panel, a shoulder panel, and a rubber-like mounting supporting said shoulder panel upon said back panel for: limited backward and-sideward and twistingmovements with respect thereto.

"I. A chair of the character described including: a molded slightly flexible substantially horizontally extending seat panel, a molded slightly flexible substantially vertically extending backpanel: carriedzupon said Seatpanel; said.- back panel being; shell-like with inner concave surfaces, and: a molded slightly flexible vertically disposed-shell-like shoulder panel with inner concave surfaces resiliently carried upon said back panel so as further to adapt itself tothe posture of; such seated'person; said seat panel including a pair of oppositely disposed vertically arranged back panel supports disposed one on each side of the seat, said back panel including forwardly extending arm rests one on each side thereof and each havingayertically arranged portion extending; into juxtaposition with respect to a back panel support of said seat-,a pair'of resilient torsionmount means one connecting, thejuxtaposed arm rest and back: panel'support on one side and the other connecting the juxtaposedar-m rest and back: panel; support onthe other side whereby a resilient rockingv movement of the back panel with respect to the seat panel about. an axis through the torsion-mounts is made possible, said axis coinciding substantially with the hip pivot .axisof a seated person, said shoulder panel and said; back panel being connected by a resilient tension mount disposed between juxtaposedpanel portionsthereof, and said tension mount being centered upon:a=linc passing through'the centers ofrthe back and shoulder panels.

CHAR ES EAMES.

References Cited in the file. of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Germany Nov. 9, 1929 

